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Sex Scandal Is New Crisis for Troubled French Team

Karim Benzema, left, and Franck Ribery, right, were called as witnesses in the prostitution investigation of Zaman Café, a nightclub located on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.Credit
Christophe Ena/Associated Press

PARIS — Less than two months before the start of the World Cup in South Africa, the French national soccer team, its on-field reputation in decline, is dealing with a sex scandal involving several players and under-age prostitutes.

Outrage has been building over the last week, with reports that at least three key players were questioned during a police investigation into a high-end prostitution ring. Now there is concern that the players will not be named to the World Cup team, which will be announced next month.

Three French players — Franck Ribéry, 27; Sidney Govou, 30; and Karim Benzema, 22 — are accused of soliciting sex from an under-age prostitute; none of them have been charged with a crime. The scandal revolves around the testimony of Zahia Dehar, 18, who was a minor when she said she had a relationship with two of the players.

As with the Ben Roethlisberger case in the N.F.L. — he was accused of sexual assault by a 20-year-old woman but not charged — a scandal involving a high-profile star has fans questioning whether the player is too compromised to represent their team.

Dehar told the police that though she had told the players she was 18 when she met them, she was 16 when she had intercourse with Benzema and 17 when she met Ribéry, with whom she says she had a relationship. Govou’s role in the investigation is unclear, but Dehar said she was 18 when he approached her. Although prostitution is legal in France, soliciting it is not, and clients risk a penalty of up to $60,300 and three years in jail for employing an under-age prostitute.

The police were singling out the Zaman Café, a nightclub located on the Champs-Élysées. The French police thought it housed a prostitution ring and rounded up 18 prostitutes in an April 12 raid on the club. The players were called as witnesses after the prostitutes were interrogated by the police.

Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Govou (Lyon) and Benzema (Real Madrid) play for some of the top club teams in European soccer.

The scandal has highlighted the decline of the French team, which is known as Les Bleus, after the color of the players’ jerseys. Only 12 years ago, in the wake of its 1998 World Cup title, the team seemed a model for a new France — multiethnic and multiracial and a successful unit.

Les Bleus were embraced by politicians and ordinary people as instrumental in the renewal of France’s crumbling social contract. A decade later, a string of poor performances and scandals has taken its toll.

The team’s qualification for the World Cup had already been tainted by Thierry Henry’s undetected hand ball, which led to the winning goal in a playoff against Ireland in November. Even Henry said he was embarrassed by his sleight of hand.

In 2006, Zinedine Zidane, France’s most famous player, head-butted an Italian player during the World Cup final, squandering the team’s chance to win. The team’s coach, Raymond Domenech, a distant, cerebral man, has been widely criticized for his management and blamed for the team’s poor performance. Since the loss in the 2006 final, the French news media have repeatedly called for his resignation.

Ribéry’s future is unclear. A popular figure in French soccer, he remained unscathed by the criticism of the team’s disappointing results over the past few years. His ingenuity and compelling looks, his face scarred from a car accident when he was 2, have charmed France since his first selection to the national team in 2006.

But the recent allegations have damaged Ribéry’s career. He plays for Bayern Munich, but he was ejected from a semifinal match in the Champions League last Wednesday for a violent foul. During a match in Germany on Saturday, he was copiously booed.

Legally, Ribéry remains a witness, but an indictment could shatter his hopes of being selected for the World Cup.

Like Benzema and Govou, Ribéry has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In a statement released to Radio Monte Carlo, Ribéry’s lawyer, Sophie Bottai, said: “This affair doesn’t concern him. In the worst of cases, it is a private matter, and doesn’t call for any comment.”

Still, it is hard to see how the French team can get over this scandal as they prepare for the World Cup.

“This is not going to fix Les Bleus’ bad image,” Patrick Mignon, a sport sociologist, told the newspaper Le Monde. “If their image had been good, this affair would have been perceived as secondary. But here, a lot of things are adding up, and it’s going to exacerbate the slightly ridiculous aspect of a team that is already full of doubts.”

A version of this article appears in print on April 26, 2010, on page D7 of the New York edition with the headline: Sex Scandal Is New Crisis For Troubled French Team. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe